In mid-April, the 2nd Escort Detachment, which had gone through many difficulties and dangers, broke through many obstacles and finally returned to the Zhenhaibao Naval Base on a rainy night.

Perhaps it was the naval battle off the coast of Portugal that taught the British a lesson, or perhaps because the whole fleet had secretly left the port of Bordeaux in the middle of the night, and they did not encounter any obstacles on the way back, and the only time they encountered three British ships in the Canary Islands were also in danger, and the two sides exchanged a few shots as greetings and then left, and the whole voyage was relatively smooth.

The two warships, which had been traumatized, were rushed to the dock of the Zhenhai Shipyard for refurbishment, and the two transport ships "Penglai" and "Yingzhou" were also driven into the dock for maintenance. The South China Sea Transportation Company is counting on these two ships to continue to contribute.

Wang Tiezhu, who had a scruffy beard and a tired face, was called back to Dongfang Port overnight to discuss important matters. Since the offshore waters are not very safe at present, Wang Tiezhu changed to a small river boat at Zhenhaibao Wharf, and arrived dozens of kilometers north of Dongfang Port through the Lianghu Canal, Milin Lake, Chuy River and its southern extension, and then changed horses in a local outpost, and galloped for two days before arriving at the Admiralty of Dongfang Port.

Today, the Admiralty has moved to the edge of the Nancheng Navigation School in Dongfang County. Wang Qinian used the small treasury of the Admiralty to build a three-storey building here to serve as the office space of the Admiralty, the Navigation School, and the newly established Customs, Health and Quarantine and other units.

It was already ten o'clock in the evening when Wang Qinian arrived here, but the building of the Admiralty was still brightly lit, and it seemed that it was another sleepless night for the Admirals.

After routinely checking his documents, Wang Tiezhu walked into the large conference room on the first floor under the admiring gaze of the sentry. In the conference room, Wang Qinian and Lu Ming, the two top figures in the Admiralty, were impressively listed. Except for the two of them. Some of the middle and high-ranking cadres of the navy above the rank of first officer have almost all arrived. Even Julien, Demere, John. Older and reliable immigration officers, such as Ston, also sat behind the conference table.

"Lao Wang's nine deaths and victorious return have played a majestic and ambitious role for our navy, and the brothers applauded warmly. Rub, are we all good men and men in the navy! Seeing Wang Tiehammer walk into the conference room, Wang Qinian took the lead in getting up and applauding.

Lu Ming, the commander of the First Fleet, stepped forward and had a bear hug with Wang Tiehammer. Only brothers who have fought at sea can understand how difficult it was for the king of the hammer to escort this trip. The tremendous psychological pressure of walking alone on the sea, facing enemies everywhere, and having a vague future can even crush people entirely.

"Lao Wang. It's not easy! Lu Ming said with emotion, "I played well this time, if I go to change it, I may be able to explain." I've heard that I've braved arrows and stones, been wounded in the line of fire, and died nine times a lifetime. There is no one in the brothers, and the men on our sea have this kind of spirit and domineering. Come, sit down, brothers, discuss how to break the enemy's blockade next. ”

Wang Tiehammer nodded, and the seat under Lu Ming's head was vacant, and he sat down without hesitation. Who's in high status within the Navy. Who's in a low status can now be seen at a glance just by looking at their seating arrangement. When the king did not come. The seat under Lu Ming has been empty, and no one has come up to sit down. Everyone has a rod and scale in their hearts, Wang Tiehammer's position in the first battle, he sits in the third position, and no one dares to talk nonsense.

The orderly brought a cup of coffee, Wang Tiehammer frowned, he likes light green tea, and rarely drinks coffee.

"Lao Wang, let's just order." Wang Qinian said with a wry smile, "Now that trade is cut off, the merchant ships of the Portuguese and Dutch can't come, and the green tea goods from our Daming Dynasty have long been cut off." Now there may be some stock on the side of the Executive Committee, so you might as well order it. Why don't you switch to chocolate made of cocoa powder? Don't be satisfied, even coffee and cocoa are now sold at high prices by the Brazilian Mameluco over the Gérard. In fact, this thing tastes okay, and you won't hate it when you get used to it. ”

"Speaking of lockdowns, domestic prices are rising sharply now." Lu Ming also sighed and gossiped, "The price of red wine and brandy in Bordeaux has tripled, and it continues to rise. The Ministry of Industry and Commerce had to relax the approval restrictions on brewing enterprises a while ago, and issued dozens of licenses in one go to encourage the people to make their own wine. What a fuck, I asked Shao Shude for a batch of spirits the other day, and he only gave me two-thirds of the amount. Damn, how can the brethren sail without spirits?! ”

"It's not just the price of spirits that is rising, but the price of wood is going up even more. In particular, the Brazilian mahogany used for shipbuilding has increased by as much as five times the number of ships smuggled from Brazil and New Spain, and now building a ship can empty out all our families. Chen Tumuzhi took a sip of hot chocolate and complained: "Yesterday Alvarez from the Rodriguez Chamber of Commerce came to tell us that the saltpeter and sulfur smuggled from Chile would be doubled from the original price. And not only that, but he also asked us to give him greater discounts on the prices of woollen wool, cotton, hardware and other goods. This white-eyed wolf, do you think we're going to fall! Hateful, hateful! Speaking of the most reluctant, Chen Tumu gritted his teeth a little.

"It's all grass on the wall that falls with the wind, and when I see that the British are strong, I think we can't do it anymore and are going to fall. How faithful do you expect them to be to us? Ding Wei sneered, and then said: "Don't talk about these outsiders, we still have surrender factions within ourselves." Hmph, the Industrialists of the Government Council and Bai Siwen of the Judicial Department are mixed up, and they are unwilling to agree to our plan to attack the Gambia. These people are simply national thieves! ”

"The Gambia?" Wang Tiehammer touched his chin and said, "It's a good target." I've heard the Portuguese in Cape Verde talk about the fact that the British have a trading post next to the Gambia River, and they've been mining and refining gold, and they should have plenty of oil and water. Moreover, the defeat of this trading station should have a great shock to the British. ”

"Isn't it unapproved!" Navy Second Lieutenant Sang Kai slapped his palm in annoyance, "A group of national thieves desperately disagree with our expedition plan, and also say that we are taking a military adventure and gambling on the fortunes of the country with all the belongings of the navy, and the consequences will be unimaginable if we fail." Rub, I admit that there is an element of gambling on the fortune of the country, but isn't there no way, and our success rate is not as bad as they say. ”

"So what about the ...... Uh, what's the opinion of the thieves? They don't agree with this, don't they agree, do they let us hide at home and be beaten passively? Wang Tiehammer was a little puzzled, "What do they want to do?" ”

"They want to talk through the Portuguese, who have good relations with the British." Someone said in a weird way, "Bai Siwen's traitor even said, take a step back and open the sky." Endure the momentary anger, even if we give up part of the market, even if we compensate some British for their losses, we just need to tide over this difficulty. Looking at the current situation, the outbreak of the British Civil War was only in the past few years, and at that time our strategic opportunity period has come. Wipe, there is some truth in the words, but Lao Tzu just can't swallow this breath. ”

"Ridiculous! Is the period of strategic opportunity waiting at home? Wang Tiehammer echoed and said, "If we can't support these strength this time, we can only say that the British colonial company is average, then even if the British don't have time to pay attention to us, then the Dutch and Spaniards will see our weakness and weakness, and then pounce on us and bite us hard." How the country still develops, our efforts over the years will be in vain. ”

"Uh-huh......" After Wang Qinian let the underground people complain, he cleared his throat and signaled to prepare for a meeting.

The crowd fell silent. Several orderly soldiers closed the door to the conference room, and then stood outside the door in full gear, preventing anyone from approaching.

Wang Qinian glanced at everyone before speaking slowly. And as soon as he opened his mouth, what he said was earth-shattering: "The black charcoal head of the War Department (Peng Zhicheng) has been contacting me a few days ago, and he also feels that he can't let Bai Siwen's gang continue to make trouble. Damn, the black charcoal head said, seeing that the plan for the sneak attack on the Gambia will not be able to pass for a while, and the resistance is too great. He felt that we should unite on land and sea, bypass the bureaucratic thieves in the Executive Committee, and directly formulate a plan for attacking. Lao Shao of the material department didn't tell me clearly, but I think he has some sympathy for us, and he happily approved the materials I asked for in the past two days, and he didn't ask me about the use. Brothers, this time we are also for the good of the country, and we use a small country to defeat a big country, and we don't have the courage to break the boat, then we are bastards! ”

"Fuck, fuck it!" After a long silence in the conference room, someone finally stood up, "Go to the executive committee of the ball, Lao Tzu and the army gang of turtles did it together!" This is all for the good of the country, even if it makes a fuss at the National People's Congress, everyone can understand it. Lao Tzu has long been tired of Bai Siwen's birdman, yin and yang all day long, like a girl. If the brothers hadn't been born and died, this white and fat dog thing would have been sold to Brazil and exploded. ”

"I agree! Soldiers must have a sense of responsibility for this country, and we have the obligation to correct what is wrong! ”

"I've been annoyed by those guys from the Department of Justice and Transportation for a long time, and they don't use any hair, but they still stink a lot of fart. When the Spaniards and the British came to kill them, they would have been the first to surrender. I rub, the country still depends on our glorious soldiers! Minister Wang, let's do it! If anyone dares to crook their mouths, we will ...... Only...... Hum! ”

There was a commotion in the conference room, Wang Tiehammer glanced at it, and almost everyone in the conference room was excited, except for Lu Ming, the commander of the First Fleet, who was sitting there like an old monk.

PS: I went to Sichuan on a business trip today, and I don't know how many days it will take. During the business trip, try to maintain one shift a day, and then resume two shifts after returning, everyone forgive me. (To be continued......)